Nationals beat writer, The Washington Post

Got this from The Pipeline but not sure if it was an in-house note (seems like one) or if it will be opened up. Anyway:

After two very long seasons doing an outstanding job covering the Washington
Nationals, Chico Harlan
is eager for a new challenge at the Post, and a well-deserved one. We
do not fault Chico for having failed to bring winning baseball to the
District. In fact, he now joins a long list of baseball writers who
have come up short in that regard. What this means is that we are
looking for a new reporter to cover the Nats. This is one of the most
high profile and rewarding beats in Sports because our coverage of the
city's MLB franchise is at the center of our department's mission. It
is also a very demanding job. It involves covering upwards of 140-150
games per year, in addition to spring training and the off-season. The beat
writer is also responsible for regular posts to the
Nationals Journal blog, which has a large and passionate following of
baseball fans. A background in sports is not essential, though the
ideal candidate would be someone who has high energy, a willingness to
travel and a love for the game of baseball.
We would like to fill this position soon to give the writer time to
acclimate before the start of spring training in Florida in
mid-February.

If interested, contact Matt Vita, Peter Perl, or Alexa Steele by December 2.

For an MLB beat gig with one of the country's most widely-read papers??? Seriously? Hell even most Podunk Press preps jobs like you to have a background in sports. Needless to say, I was shocked to read that.

I am really curious what Chico Harlan will cover next. He's an incredible wordsmith who turns one hell of a phrase. Whoever takes his job will have a hard time filling his shoes. I know many folks who would read Chico just to see how he would get his digs in on the Nats next. Because you always thought he had done it better than could be done the day before, and better than he would be able to do it again.

A personal favorite:

The winning streak, or at least what counts for one inside the beltway of bad baseball, had a lifespan of one night and one short morning. A beer before closing time and a coffee with breakfast. By lunchtime yesterday, the Washington Nationals, after a brief bout with competence, were back to the same old problems, tripping into an early deficit, showing little pulse thereafter, and fully restoring their identity as a team adept only at keeping itself unhappy.

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I don't know if anybody else out there pulls off such snarky gamers so well. I wonder if he'll earn a similar role as his equally gifted buddy Eli Saslow. Chico may actually even be a superior writer. I know Chico has been quoted as saying he'd like to be a food writer and there are few better places to do that than DC.

As for his replacement, I would have to think it's either an internal hire or they go back to somebody with Post ties. Marc Carig of the Star Ledger and Adam Kilgore of the Boston Globe both were two-year interns there. Carig covers the Yankees and Kilgore the Red Sox, so I think both could be strong candidates.

That said, everyone should apply, because there's nothing like spending 162 nights a year waiting for Ryan Zimmerman to decide you're more worthy of his time than the pimple on his back that is just beyond his reach.

I'm out. Spring-training cuts into the heart of college basketball season. Plus, I've got no business trying to connect Miller Lite and Waffle House with an MLB streak concerning a team worse than killing a keg of Pabst.

Anybody can cover a winning team. It takes a heck of a lot of talent to do a job like this.

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True dat ... though a very bad team like the Nats does tend to give you a little poetic license. Not like you have to worry about offending the fans. Can't offend them any more than the team already does.

Anybody can cover a winning team. It takes a heck of a lot of talent to do a job like this.

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True dat ... though a very bad team like the Nats does tend to give you a little poetic license. Not like you have to worry about offending the fans. Can't offend them any more than the team already does.

Sorry but the "I'm embarrassed to cover sports" (paraphrasing here) line still digs pretty hard for me. He's a solid journalist but I just wish he had his head on straighter when he gave that interview. Even the very talented could use a dose of humility now and again. (Though I will admit I think his apology later was heartfelt.)

He's not a bad guy from what I understand, though, so hopefully he's moving to something he enjoys a little more.